Our first stop was the Rain Forest Nature Trail
Then we took a side trip to the ocean (in Queets) since we were pretty close.
We had to walk through some woods before getting to the water
There were some crazy growths on these trees.
Also, it was about 20 degrees cooler than anywhere else and there was a fog all around us.
I read recently that there is more driftwood along the Washington coast than anywhere else. I totally believe it.
There was no one else on the beach with us. It was kind of amazing. The kids wandered into the fog and had a great time.
Sean was making a trail so he could find his way back.
Jon made some stone cairns. The stones at the beach are amazing and smooth.
Next stop, dropping off our stuff at our amazing rental house
It sits on 4 acres and once we are at the house, you can't see any other houses and you just hear all the different birds and pretty much nothing else. A-ma-zing! Matthew kept declaring everything beautiful. "Aren't the mountains beautiful? Look at this grass, it's beautiful! This moth is beautiful. Did you smell the flower? It smells pretty beautiful!"
Jon made some delicious burgers and then we went to check out Lake Quinault.
Again, we had the place to ourselves.
Well, there weren't other people, but we did find a dead crow, a dead salmon, and a dead butterfly.
After the lake, the kids wanted to wander around the lawn and woods on the rental property
Jon told the boys that they could wander as far as they wanted, as long as they could still see the house. I didn't get a great picture, but by the house there is a mowed lawn, then just past that there is a field of much taller grass. The kids wandered into the tall grass and would occasionally bring back flowers, or horse tails, or grass stalks to show us. In the picture above, you might be able to spot the tops of their heads way the heck out there kind of behind the darker patch of grass.
We had one more hike we wanted to do that day, which was the Falls Creek Loop.
Doing some yoga in this beautiful setting.
As this was an anniversary trip, Jon and I wrote each other vows. When we got married 10 years ago, we didn't say anything personal to each other during the ceremony at all. After attending other weddings, we saw how lovely it would be to make promises to each other. So we each wrote some and shared them in a lovely spot on this hike. We even had the kids add to our super unofficial ceremony. I gave them a prompt of "I love you because..." and "I will show you I love you by..." and had them say something about each person in the family. I LOVED the whole thing! It was sweet to hear what the kids said to each other and to Jon and I. The whole weekend we reflected on how much we have grown individually and together and how we are so incredibly happy with how our lives are. I'm so glad to be married to Jon and I look forward to what the next decade has in store for us!
Morning of leaving.
Matthew collected some lichens.
My favorite fellas!
We had a relaxed morning. The boys played more in the tall grass while we packed up. We left the house and headed to Merriman Falls.
I love Matthew's expression here
Sometimes I get nervous about climbing all over rocks and trails. When I get over myself and just go for it, I find that it's not very hard and it's super fun. And my kids think I'm cool too.
We were able to climb to a pool and feel it splashing on us.
We're so tough!
We drove along for a while and found a place to pull off and walk down to the Quinault River. It is so beautiful there. The weather was perfect. The water was clear. I could have stayed there for most of the day. There were a couple guys fishing and the boys were watching them for a while. We found some little fish and watched them for a bit. We skipped rocks. It reminded me a lot of going on trips to Owyhee Lake when I was little. Exploring and having fun in the sun all day.
After the river, we drove through the forest to Bunch Falls.
So Zen!
Actually, it's kind of hard to sit like this in tennis shoes.
Our last stop was to see the largest Sitka Spruce. There was a short trail down to the tree. It is seriously massive. There was a sign by the tree that said it's 1000 years old.
The boys and I walked all the way around it and were impressed at the size of the roots.
Well, that was our weekend. It was so amazing. I couldn't ask for anything better, except to have it last longer.
1 comment:
Happy Anniversary! Looks like the best one-ish day trip ever! Love all of the pics, you got some really good shots! Beautiful, beautiful. I love your family.
Post a Comment